Saturday, 28 June 2014

We have heard earlier on various occasions of Toyota launching their FCV, but this is the first time when the world's largest carmaker Toyota has officially disclosed the timeline of launch of their Hydrogen based car, its pricing, images and video.

The first FCV Sedan from Toyota which would run on Hydrogen would be unveiled in March 2015 at a price of 7 Million Japanese Yen. The car would be launched in Autumn 2015 in United States and Europe as well. It would be interesting for you to know that the futuristic looking sedan can run 700 Kms on a single charge and the next charging would take just 3 minutes, unlike other Electric cars which takes hours to charge again and run almost half of the Kms that a Gasoline car can run on full tank. This feature makes Toyota's FCV the first ever real competitor to Gasoline cars present today. Despite having short charging time, the lack of a proper fueling infrastructure will be an impediment to successful commercialization of the technology.

The Japanese government is planning to offer strong assistance to help fuel-cell vehicle technology achieve commercial viability as Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co prepare to launch hydrogen-powered cars next year. The car would initially be launched at only in countries where enough infrastructure is available or planned for charging Hydrogen based cars.

The company says the car will only emit water vapor produced by the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen when driven, thus contributing to the environment as well, thereby chances of gaining enough support from the government.

If the above pictures, don't give you an enough image of how would it look running on road, check out the Video below.

Thursday, 15 May 2014

The largest passenger car maker of India, Maruti Suzuki,
plans to introduce a few cars in India over the next years. Maruti Suzuki, the
brand that introduced mass motoring, continues to churn out model after model
with huge success, even after all these years.

To enter the luxury SUV market, Maruti Suzuki is all set to
launch the XA Alpha. Showcased as a concept vehicle in the New Delhi 2012 Auto
Expo, XA Alpha is based on the Swift platform and will be launched in both the
petrol and diesel variants. This compact 4-metre long car is designed keeping
in mind the customers who wish to enter the sports utility segment. With its characteristic
SUV lines, sharp nose, big wheel arches and muscular design this car will be directly
taking on the SUV veterans like Renault Duster and Ford EcoSport which are already
making big waves in the SUV genre.

With an eye at the increasing demand for sedans in the
Indian market and to boost their share in the upper A3 segment, Maruti Suzuki
has revealed another concept car, the Ciaz. Showcased at the New Delhi Auto
Expo 2014, Maruti’s new sedan Ciaz is based on the Ertiga platform and has a sporty
appearance with fluidic body design. This will be a replacement for their
earlier SX4 sedan. The competition for Maruti Ciaz will come from the wheels of
Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Vento and Nissan Sunny.

The Suzuki Jimny, is expected to be launched in the mini SUV
segment and positioned between Maruti Gypsy and Grand Vitara. This compact
vehicle is likely to be widely recommended for its price, as well as the
rugged, light and stylish looks that it offers. Maruti Suzuki Jimny is
predicted to be an ideal compact off-road vehicle for Indian consumers. On top
of that the interiors are appealing and comfortable as well. It is under
4-metres in length and can thus qualify for lower tax rates. Once it hits the
Indian roads, the Jimny will compete with other compact SUVs and off-road
vehicles such as Mahindra Thar and Force Gurkha.

Maruti Suzuki seems to be gearing up to face the
fierce competition from other car manufacturers by bringing in many new
vehicles this year in India

Thursday, 16 January 2014

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) today launched a new variant of its Amaze sedan featuring additional safety features as front dual airbags. Amaze SX would be priced Rs 7.12 lakh for the Diesel varient and Rs 6.2 for the Petrol (ex-showroom Delhi).

Moreover, the Petrol varient of Amaze SX would have ABS (Anti-Locking Braking System) which comes as standard equipment in all variants of Diesel Amaze.

Commenting on it, HCIL Senior Vice President, Marketing & Sales Jnaneswar Sen: We are pleased to introduce 'SX' variant of the Amaze with added safety features. The S variant has been the most popular variant in the Amaze range and with the addition of SX variant, we are confident that this new variant will appeal and bring delight to the customers seeking safety features at the volume range".

Honda Amaze has witnessed great success in Indian market by selling more than 60,000 units from its launch in April 2013.

The Japanese carmaker also announced that Celerio would get an Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) and would be called as EZ Drive.An AMT would provide a clutchless drive to the passengers like an automatic transmission. However, as per Maruti Suzuki the benefits of AMT is its more fuel efficient gearbox which the company claims to be 5 percent more fuel efficient and also much cheaper than the conventional automatic transmissions available in India.

The Celerio would be powered by 1.0L K10 engine which would be currently available only in Petrol fuel. The company also plans to introduce a Diesel version of the same in year 2015, however no official confirmation is done by the carmaker as of now. The engine will be available with a power output of 68PS and 90PS of torque.

Stay tuned for more information during the launch from 2014 Auto Expo.

Stuttgart based Mercedes Benz, which had just launched the S Class in India at Rs 1.57 Crores is all set for the local manufacturing of its product in India. The new car S500 long wheelbase measures 5,246 mm in length, 1,494 mm in height, 1,899 mm in width and comes with a 3,165 mm wheelbase. It tips the scales at 2,200 kg.

Mercedes Benz which had sold 9,003 cars in India last year, a 32% growth over last year is all set to replace the top luxury carmaker in India - Audi to second slot. Audi in 2013 had crossed 10,000 mark sales. In the second half of 2013, Mercedes had taken the top slot and is now hoping to outpace the market leader again on the back of its new launches.

Mercedes, which had introduced eight new models in India last year, is planning to enhance its local assembly operations to beat competition and fill the SUV deficit in its portfolio. In India, it assembles four car models—the C-Class, E-Class, ML-Class and the GL-Class. The company is planning to introduce its globally successful GLA SUV and the CLA sports sedan in India to tap its growing affluent class.

Mercedes Benz has already sold the 125 SClass launch edition cars allocated by its German headquarters for India. Deliveries of the locally assembled car, which will be available with both diesel and petrol engines, is expected to start in April.

Moreover, the carmaker plans to double its annual capacity to 20,000 per annum in India. We wish Mercedes Benz, all the best for achieving its target of being the largest carmaker in India outpacing its rival Audi in 2014. Watch out the close rivals as the year progresses.

Tuesday, 7 January 2014

Japan's Honda Motors have launched their fourth generation City sedan in India starting at Rs 7.42 Lakh for the petrol variant and Rs 8.62 Lakh for the Diesel variant.

The new car is based on Jazz platform and the Petrol variant will be powered by 1.5L i-VTEC engine delivering 119PS of power and 145 Nm of torque. It can purchased with a 5-speed manual transmission, which is claimed to deliver 17.8 km/l, or with a CVT gearbox which promises fuel efficiency at 18 km/l.

The diesel City is powered by the same 1.5-liter i-DTEC engine found in the Amaze and it produces an identical 100 PS and 200 Nm of torque like the Amaze. However, Honda has opted to give the City diesel a 6-speed manual transmission as compared to the 5-speed gearbox of the Amaze. The ARAI rated fuel efficiency of the new City diesel stands at a class-leading 26 km/l.

Friday, 3 January 2014

Audi India has asked for a press conference on 6th January to launch their new model. The company through its Facebook page has announced to launch RS7 in India.

At same time last year, Audi showcased the car at Detroit Motor Show. The RS7 would be powered by 4.0L TFSI twin cylinder V8 diesel engine producing 560 bhp of power at 6700 rpm and 700 Nm of torque at 1,750 rpm. The RS7 is capable of doing a sprint of 0-100 Kmph in just 3.9 seconds.

The top speed of the car is resticted to 250 Kmph in India whereas the International models have an option of choosing variant capable of doing 305 Kmph.

The RS 7 will feature Audi’s traditional Quattro four-wheel drive system. An 8-speed automatic transmission will send 60 percent of the power to the rear wheels, while 40 percent goes to the front. Thanks to a Cylinder On Demand (COD) system, the RS 7 achieves 10.2 km/l in the European driving cycle.